Celebrating the best emerging British filmmaking with cutting-edge curation across entertaining, inspiring and exciting cinema events.
The Shortest Nights is an annual BIFA-qualifying festival that showcases the best in up-and-coming British filmmaking talent. Now in its 12th year, the festival is curated with a dynamic mix of groundbreaking topics and emerging filmmaking innovations.
Returning to the wonderful Castle Sidcup on 5th and 6th September, this year’s festival programme spans comedy, drama, animation, horror and family films, so there’s something for every cinephile!
Each screening is followed by a Q&A, and a ‘best of block’ film award presentation from our official Jury. There’s also plenty of networking and development opportunities with our industry sessions and filmmaker socials.
Scroll on down for more information…
The Shortest Nights 2026 film & industry programme
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Family film club
Join us for a fun, family-friendly selection of British short films and hands on activities.
An entertaining children’s film programme with fun characters and some cheeky twists and turns. Featuring animated, live action and super 8 films.
Saturday 5th Sept - 11:30am Castle Sidcup
This screening is followed by a free family activity session inspired by the films, and an award presentation by Darren Hart (Playtime Towers, CBeebies Panto).
Activities are designed for children aged 5-11, but all ages are welcome. Children must be accompanied by an adult at all times. Festival activities are available to ticket holders only.
Catching Fleas
Dir. Georgina Foiniki (12:30)The Last Raindrop
Dir. Leticia Apa Ramos (1:48min)CUEVA
Dir. Amelia Hodgetts (3:15min)Thirst
Dir. Jim Onyemenam (3min)Naughty or Nice?
Dir. Ariana King (8min)UK, Live Action, Animation, Super 8 (30min + activity session)
Rated: U
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Chills and Thrills: Double Bill
Dramatic genre films vs dark comedies in our thrilling two-part programme.
We’ll take you to the cutting edge of contemporary British filmmaking with edge-of-your-seat thrillers and horrors, finished with a palate cleanse of delightfully dark comedies.
Saturday 5th September - 7pm - Castle Sidcup
This screening includes a special introduction by actress and festival director, Gem Carmella (Gangs of London) and is followed by a Q&A, and an award presentation by Nicholas Vince (Hellraiser, Nightbreed)
The Intimacy Coordinator
Dir. Louisa Connolly-Burnham (20:53min)LATCH
Dir. Chelsea Walker (5:25min)Skylight
Dir. Barnaby Boulton (17:30min)Homonym
Dir. Lily Howkins (17:05min)When She Sings
Dir. Paul Holbrook (24:34min)INTERMISSION
Gristle
Dir. James Alex Thomson (14:06)Time's Up, I'm Afraid
Dir. James Button (14min)Mr. Vapey Man
Dir. Hugo Docking (1:15min)The Humbug
Dir. Cole Paviour (9:09min)The Devil Is In Me
Dir. Tia Salisbury (11:45min)UK Thriller, Horror, Dark Comedy (135min + intermission)
Rated: 18
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Griftin'
Capers, cons and annoying colleagues are all in the firing line in these high-energy narrative comedies from across the UK.
Sunday 6th September - 12 midday - Castle Sidcup
This screening includes a special introduction by actress and festival director, Gem Carmella (Gangs of London) and is followed by a Q&A, and an award presentation by Comedy Producer, Janet Awe (Dreamland).
Gan Canny
Dir. Lou Burns, Aaron Burns (17:43min)Muffins 'n' More
Rich Farris (4:15min)Van Kampen & The Mosquito
Dir. Scott Hurran (7:26min)Colette
Dir. Myles McAuliffe (4:30min)Duck Duck Goose
Dir. Harry Redding (13:30min)Deli Meat
BRICK (15:53min)UK Comedy, Comedy-Drama (64min)
Rated: 18
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Brothers, Fathers, Sons
Character-driven dramas exploring male familial relationships with complexity, depth and cinematic flair.
Sunday 6th September - 2:30pm - Castle Sidcup
This screening includes a special introduction by actress and festival director, Gem Carmella (Gangs of London) and is followed by a Q&A, and an award presentation by Philip Ilson (London Short Film Festival).
Gowk
Dir. Ryan Pollock (15min)Chinaman
Dir. Rob Chiu (12:38min)Gumball
Dir. James Murray (4min)How to Wash a Body, How to Cleanse a Soul
Dir. Luke Bather (19:47min)Yellow Bucket
Dir. Simon Brooke (15:29min)UK Drama (67min)
Rated: 15
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Fallout
A collection of heartfelt, high-concept dramedies exploring the emotional fallout of events we can’t control. Expect witty, jaw dropping twists and outstanding performances in these shorts that are equal parts entertainment and catharsis.
Sunday 6th September - 5pm - Castle Sidcup
This screening includes a special introduction by actress and festival director, Gem Carmella (Gangs of London) and is followed by a Q&A, and an award presentation by Kyla Harris (We Might Regret This)
Tell Your Face
Dir. Jill Worsley (14:05)Useless
Ariel Heller (9:48min)Truckload
Dir. Aella Jordan-Edge (19:50min)Full Fat
Dir. Louisa Connolly-Burnham (9:27min)The Sorrows of Young Charlotte
Dir. Shir Ariya (13:32min)UK Drama, Comedy-Drama, Dark Comedy (65min)
Rated: 18
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networking and industry events
Industry Afternoon
Saturday 5th Sept - 2-5pm - Castle Sidcup2 pm - Industry Session 1: Script and Story Development (TV and Film)
Session hosted by TV writer Hari Kanth (SNL UK, Horrible Science) and Development Producers Cassie Smyth and Chris Grezo. They’ll cover:Taking your ideas from short form to TV.
How to approach TV and film producers, both with and without an agent.
Adult content vs kids TV: tailoring your project to specific audiences.
Practical advice on developing your story / script ideas.
3 pm - Industry session 2: Networking Natter.
We’ll provide the refreshments (tea, coffee, snacks) you provide the chat. A chance for networking with each other, the festival team, our programmers, industry panelists and jury.3:45pm - Industry Session 3: The Future of Short Film.
Hosted by CentreFrame. CentreFrame is home of the British Short Film Awards, and works to connect filmmakers with the resources, network and opportunities they need to turn their vision into reality. They’ll discuss:The future of short film.
How short form content is evolving because of Vertical and YouTube.
How filmmaking communities and mentor-led initiatives can help you.
Current opportunities and awards available to filmmakers.
Our industry afternoon is free to attend on a first come, first served basis. Places are limited. Please reserve your ticket below.
Networking Opportunities
Every screening is followed by a Q&A and networking session. We have a designated festival area in the cinema mezzanine, and will also have access to the cinema bar before and after each screening. Film festival staff will be on hand to get you chatting to the right people, and to help you get the best out of your festival experience in a relaxed, accessible manner. Participating filmmakers will also be invited to attend our social dinners.
2026 official Jury
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Philip Ilson
Artistic Director of London Short Film Festival.
Philip is a highly experienced short film programmer and jury member. He was a programmer for BFI London Film Festival 2006 - 2022, and is currently short film programmer at Dinnard British and Irish Film Festival in France. He has sat on many international juries including, Hamburg, Dokufest, and Shortwaves, and Sheffield DocFest, Encounters, Edinburgh, Leeds, Watersprite and Durham in the UK.
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Kyla Harris
Actor and BAFTA-nominated writer/creator.
Kyla was BAFTA nominated for her work as writer/creator of We Might Regret This for BBC 2, and is the Emmy Award–winning producer of Patrice: THE MOVIE. Her work positions disabled experience as a source of cultural knowledge and aesthetic innovation, using narrative as a space for connection, resistance, and collective meaning-making.
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Nicholas Vince
Actor, author and filmmaker.
Known for playing the Chatterer Cenobite in Clive Barker’s Hellraiser and Kinski in Nightbreed. His autobiographical work, I Am Monsters is now available on limited edition Blu-ray with a streaming release planned for 2026.
See more about Nicholas here
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Janet Awe
Development producer and script editor for TV, film and audio.
Janet specialises in comedy and drama with comedic beats. She has produced award-winning shorts, worked on shows for Sky, ITV and UKTV and with production companies such as Merman. She’s now developing her own slate of projects under her company, Awethentic Tales, championing diverse creators and stories, while continuing to produce and script edit for others.
See more about Authentic Tales here
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Darren Hart
Screen and stage actor.
Working across TV, film and theatre, including with BBC, CBeebies, Channel 4, Amazon and Netflix. You might recognise him as Kingsley in Playtime Towers, as well as from favourites like Justin's House and Gigglebiz, alongside appearances in Call the Midwife and Turn Up Charlie! Darren also appears in a wide range of theatre and pantomime productions. He is passionate about helping young people build confidence, creativity and self-expression through performance.
2026 industry panelists
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Cassie Smyth
Development Producer
Cassie is a Development Producer at Ol Parker’s Anyway Content and a freelance writer. She is currently working across a range of genres in both feature and TV projects that are in development with the BBC, Sky Studios, ITV and Nippon TV.
She started her career down the content mines as a staffwriter for Buzzfeed UK, writing and creating content that would make audiences laugh and go viral. As a digital producer she has worked across titles such as Normal People, Glow Up, Back to Life Fleabag and in 2020, she won a Broadcast award for Best Digital Support for her work on Drag Race UK.After having success with her online work, Cassie moved into sketch writing and then script writing, writing on Radio 4’s Dead-Ringers and BBC Three’s Divina DeCampo Destroys 2020 and has won multiple awards with her short comedy films The Shelves and Bossbabes.
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Hari Kanth
TV Writer
Hari Kanth is a comedy writer and improviser. He was part of the inaugural writing team for Saturday Night Live UK, and has written for the first two series of Horrible Science. His sitcom pilot, Kothu was a winner of the British Comedy Guide’s Spring Sitcom Selection, and earned him a place on Andy Riley’s mentoring scheme. He also runs Sketchburn, a scratch night for sketch comedy films.
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Chris Grezo
Development Producer
Chris Grezo is the founder of Strange Boy Productions and recently produced WRAITH, a 4-part audio drama for the BBC starring Edward Bluemel and Corinna Brown, written in consultation with world-leading AI and cybersecurity experts. He has worked in development on EMMY Award-winning projects and with BAFTA-winning writers across $100M+ worth of high-end drama, comedy and comedy-drama in the mediums of film, TV, audio drama, interactive drama and books, including on TV series such as KIN for AMC and TEN PERCENT for Amazon, and on projects featuring the likes of Himesh Patel, Helena Bonham Carter, Dominic West, Richard E. Grant, Jim Broadbent and David Oyelowo.
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CenterFrame
CenterFrame works to connect filmmakers with the resources, network and opportunities they need to turn their vision into reality.
Festival partners for 2026
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London Borough of Bexley
We are honoured to have been supported by the London Borough of Bexley to bring the festival back to our home borough. Click here to learn more about Bexley council.
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Bexley business and employment
Our official sponsor for 2026. We are extremely grateful to BBE for helping bring The Shortest Nights back to Bexley. Find out more about what they do here.

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Castle Sidcup
Our venue partners for our 2026 festival are the wonderful Castle Sidcup. See more about their venues and what they offer here.

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BIFA qualifying festival
We are proud to be an official BIFA-qualifying festival. Find out more about BIFA here.

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Sticker Mule
Our official sticker partner for 2026. Making high quality vinyl stickers for our filmmakers and guests.
See their products and services here.

Contact us
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